Intersubjectivity Essay ⋆ Sociology Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

This Intersubjectivity Essay example is published for educational and informational purposes only. If you need a custom essay or research paper on this topic, please use our writing services. EssayEmpire.com offers reliable custom essay writing services that can help you to receive high grades and impress your professors with the quality of each essay or research paper you hand in.

Intersubjectivity refers to a shared perception of reality among two or more individuals. The term is important in many aspects of sociology, from postpositivist research methods to studies of the lived experiences of individuals by ethnomethodologists and feminist scholars.

We, as human beings, cannot know reality except through our own senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, or touch. Accordingly, each individual s reality is necessarily subjective. We may extend our senses through measuring devices (telescopes, scales, cameras, etc.) but ultimately each person s understanding of reality is individually subjective. One cannot see “blue” except through one’s own senses. With social reality, we have even less certainty. It is easier to know that the sky is blue than it is to know that ”James likes me.

However, most individuals also understand that we cannot change reality simply by thinking. If one were to wake up and decide that ”blue is ”yellow, it would be clear that one could not make this change ”real for others. This duality presents a problem when studying people; neither objectivity nor subjectivity is sufficient to explain an individual s life experiences. Intersubjectivity is an intermediate position that sociologists use to solve this problem. At best, people may achieve a common understanding of what is going on.

Philosophers of science and social scientists have used intersubjectivity, or intersubjective testability, to discuss the day-to-day operations of social science. Social scientists attempt to explain and predict the outcomes of certain situations based on some initial information and a theory of how things work. People in a particular field of study come to agree first on the rules of evidence. They obtain specialized training in order to be able to conduct tests of ”knowledge claims using clear definitions, precise theories, and transparent research methods.

Since the rules of evidence are agreed upon, different scientists looking at the same information can agree on its meaning, obtaining intersubjectivity on the results of research.

In a different vein, phenomenologists and ethno-methodologists have used the term intersubjectivity for the understandings people come to share in their everyday lives. Again, presuppose that objectivity is not possible in human understanding. Social meaning is malleable and differences of subjective view are ubiquitous. Intersubjectivity in this context refers to the shared perspectives people sometimes actually achieve, and often assume they have achieved. People take for granted that reality is obdurate. They may realize that there is no way objectively to know what is ”real. But for day-to-day activity, this is treated as unimportant. People operate as if reality is knowable, as if people similar to themselves see things the same way, and assume that if reasonable people discuss matters, they will probably come to the same conclusions.

Intersubjectivity is most visible, and its importance is highlighted, when it is violated. When taken-for-granted behaviors do not occur, or unexpected behaviors do occur, they call into question assumptions about reality. The resulting breakdown in intersubjectivity can be most unsettling. This leads to an often repeated phrase among social constructionists that ”reality is negotiated.

Feminist scholars highlight the power aspects of intersubjectivity. Low-power actors are often required to share the perspectives of high-power actors, coming to an intersubjective agreement on ”what you want, what you think, what you need. High-power actors are afforded the right to concern themselves with ”what I want, think, and need. As a value statement, higher power researchers should attempt to achieve an intersubjective view with lower power interviewees. Researchers who are too interested in what they want to know from their interviewees may miss the opportunity to learn what their interviewees want them to know.

Bibliography:

Lengermann, P. M. & Niebrugge, J. (1995) Intersubjectivity and domination: a feminist investigation of the sociology of Alfred Schutz. Sociological Theory 13 (1): 25-36.
Schutz, A. (1967) The Phenomenology of the Social World, trans. G. Walsh & F. Lehnert. Northwestern University Press, Chicago, IL.